diff --git a/.mokogitea/workflows/pr-check.yml b/.mokogitea/workflows/pr-check.yml
index c7c2e8f0..2874d607 100644
--- a/.mokogitea/workflows/pr-check.yml
+++ b/.mokogitea/workflows/pr-check.yml
@@ -258,8 +258,9 @@ jobs:
           while IFS= read -r -d '' file; do
             # Skip vendor, node_modules, and index.html stub files
             case "$file" in ./vendor/*|./node_modules/*) continue ;; esac
-            # Check first 10 lines for JEXEC or JPATH guard
-            if ! head -20 "$file" | grep -qE "defined\s*\(\s*['\"](_JEXEC|JPATH_BASE|\\\\JPATH_PLATFORM)['\"]"; then
+            # Scan the whole file for the JEXEC/JPATH guard: it is placed after
+            # the SPDX/file-header docblock, which commonly runs past 20 lines.
+            if ! grep -qE "defined\s*\(\s*['\"](_JEXEC|JPATH_BASE|\\\\JPATH_PLATFORM)['\"]" "$file"; then
               echo "::error file=${file}::Missing JEXEC guard: ${file}"
               ERRORS=$((ERRORS + 1))
             fi